/l5rg/ - Legend of the Five Rings General

>THIS IS SOME REALLY GOOD RICE

Yeah, I get that. But I can't really think of anything particularly interesting to have as my character's goal for being there. Just...nothing comes to mind.

Think of the other people that will show up. Whatever happens in the Emperor's Winter Court gets amplified multiple times. If you finish a trade deal with another clan's representatives, that deal will send ripples through the Empire's economy. If you duel and kill someone, everyone will know it, and I mean everyone. And then there's the less savory reasons why you might need particular people to gather together. Who does your character know, and what do they want of them?

Well, your clan probably has some goals in mind, like the Dragon securing food import deals so they don't starve. Those are supposed come first, but they probably don't for the sort of ambitious people who manage to get to the big court.

If you have a rival at the court, you can end their career. Humiliate them before the throne and nobody will want to touch them. Make it big enough and you could put a couple generations of heirs out of a job, or at least keep them out of high profile positions.

Want to get famous for being great at something? Win a contest at the Emperor's court. You may need to play politics to get the right contest to happen. Of course, if you're an artist, there's probably at least one of the Kakita masters there. They take challenges. You can boost your rep a lot even if you lose to one, as long as you put up a great contest.

Having an affair is always popular. Can even get you famous, if everyone finds out that you did it but you keep enough deniability to avoid trouble. Get a pillow book or play written about it and your fame will live on forever.

So, our group is thinking about running L5R as our current Deathwatch GM always has a campaign already written up for this and a few people aren't done with DW. I'm pretty new to TTRPGs over all and have only just read the book for this L5R today. I'm looking to make a Togashi Tattooed monk and I guess I don't even really know where to begin to start putting my XP in. Any advice?

Just Christ, so many typos here. He already has a campaign written up and not everyone is down with Deathwatch.

Beef up your Reflexes and Agility, and remember to be a polite motherfucker.

How would an all shugenja party work?

what kinds of tasks that are a good fit for a party of PCs exist in universe that you would solve with a group of shugenja?

Am I correct in that:
-magistrate groups usually have a variety of different Samurai in them not all Bushi, all Courtiers, or all Shugenja?

-while jade magistrates must be shugenja, they usually have courtiers and possibly bushi with them too?

...

Jade Magistrates do not all have to be shugenja. Like almost every position, ability has little to do with getting the post. Connections and politics have more to do with it, and you don't need to do magic to hunt down maho anyway.

Talking to big shots (or their minders who are the actual power/descission makers) of your clan and ask what would help the clan (what do we want/what are we up to) and how/if you can help. If your are playing a character who doesn't have his own addenda but they are a loyal an honorable sort then they would probably spend this time trying to help the addenda of their people.

Also this gives the GM an in to get your character involved and a chance for you to roleplay your character being parrot of their people or struggling through having to deal with clashes between the agendas of different groups and people your character cares about.

Maybe that was a house rule or an older edition. In any casethank you for correcting my misconception.

Do you have any thoughts or answers related to the first two questions I asked?

Is the winter court a good place for starting or advancing the process of turning an old rival into a friend?

Wait why are they spending their time messing with the party though?

Where is Crane-San? I would like to hear more of the story they were recounting.

Are Dragon monks still considered samurai?

It's an individual thing that honestly doesn't matter that much. Some are, some aren't. Everyone just kinda treats them like monks or samurai as appropriate to the situation. The Togashi Family is technically the head samurai Family of the Dragon, but the Mirumoto actually run the clan, and many Togashi are really just adopted peasants. It's a clusterfuck. Non-dragons will err on the side of Samurai because they have no idea what else to do, and Dragons treat them like Monks.

They're considered a clan family led by a Kami (which sort of means samurai), an order (which sort of means monk), identify as tattooed wanderers (which means nothing), can come from any part of the Rokugani caste system (which means they might not be samurai), but you can't ask them the important question of, "Were you a samurai before joining the order?" to be certain they're really samurai - because that would be impolite.

Gotcha, thanks. And does that differ from the other monastic orders much?

The Brotherhood are distinctly not samurai, and most of them never were.
The other Clan monk orders are only really monks internally, and can pretty much be considered samurai.

Ok, that's the interpretation I had taken, but I'm brand new to this so I wasn't sure.

They see it as an 'in-joke'. A little side-project while they're doing things.

Everyone's gotta have a hobby. Theirs is 4D People-Chess.

>The other Clan monk orders are only really monks internally, and can pretty much be considered samurai.
There's only really one other clan monk order - the Asako Henshin. They're acknowledged as monks and samurai. The Kuni Witch Hunter is mechanically a monk in 4e to avoid bushi/shugenja school conflict, but not in the setting.

>They're acknowledged as monks and samurai.
So Dragon monks would be on equal social standing with another samurai (discounting the specifics involved)?

If they've been useful, from the PCs perspective, perhapse the party should find out when the Shosuro family is having their next big get together and show up to thank them.

Did Hida know that Togashi faked his own death and assumed another identity?
Did Doji?

I doubt that Hida did, and Doji explicitly did not. She ascended precisely because she thought she was the last full-blooded Kami.

Hida probably doesn't know anything after he went searching for Atarasi and ended up fighting his zombie son for 1000+ years.

What happened to that plot line anyway?

They both died and Amaterasu stuck a pure, untaintable volcano on the spot.

That's one way to settle that, I guess.

Does that make Hida Mommy's favorite.

Given an equal status position, yes.

>She ascended
That's an odd way to say 'suicide by jumping off cliff'.

Ok, awesome, thanks.

So we're Doji and Hantei the only kami to directly commit suicide.

Make sure it's an all void party and have them pursued by the Bene Gesserit, I mean, the Phoenix.

It's probably the best place for turning an old rival into a friend.

Never forget

So, question. I know how important a Scorpion's mask is, what it represents, etc. But what are the implications when a Scorpion takes his mask off in front of others (or said mask is broken and falls off in front of them)?

I ask because I might have a situation where that's dramatically appropriate next session. My Yogo just fulfilled his curse last session. The fallout of that is coming up next session.

Same as with the all psykers party.

Yes, but don't expect the game to be serious in the least.

>Is the winter court a good place for starting or advancing the process of turning an old rival into a friend?

No, the stakes are too high for courtiers to take a chance on the odd a rival Might not stab them in the back.

Best scorpion I have had the pleasure to hear about.

I admit that I want to play a Soshi Magistrate now, because of this.

Togashi-san here from Crane-san's story.
He saw your post. He will writefag as soon as he can.

Once I get back from courses, I'll continue posting, no worries

Take your time, we won't be running anywhere.

On a bit of a break, so to recap:

While tracking down Soshi Kodanshi, having seemingly betrayed the Empire, the party takes a trip through Chikushudo, the Spirit Realm of Animals, to more quickly reach Second City. They are the Ivory Magistrate Tsuruchi Yoshimitsu, the Jade Magistrate Togashi Jiaying, the Iron Crane sailor Daidoji Taichi, and a random monk calling himself Kaito who tagged along on a whim. They are guided by the Tamamo-no-Mae Bayushi Misaki and accompanied by Bayushi Kahoku, the Final Student. Shortly after they entered Chikushudo, Jiaying's cursed relation to Sakkaku made itself apparent as tricksters started falling from skyholes. They already survived a kappa, but now their surroundings are pitch black and all save Misaki are flanked by identical copies mimicking almost every move they make.

Coming up: Kaito outwits the trickster spirit, Kodanshi's treachery is brought fully to light, and the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, made bittersweet by the taste of betrayal.

And they haven't been killed yet because...?

>not running a high insight party where each Shugenja is a different member of the Elemental Council
It would be like power rangers, but without the suits

Am I that guy for immediately thinking Bad Eyesight should be used instead of Missing Limb for losing an eye?

... Where the fuck did you ever get the idea that Missing LIMB should be used for a fucking EYE?

Bad Eyesight even explicitly says "Your eyesight is exceptionally poor, whether as a result of some medical condition or even from a missing eye."

Scorpion wear masks not just for tradition, but also to remind other samurai that everyone wears masks. Not wearing a mask is meaningful for the Scorpion because of that, but doesn't mean much outside the clan. Having a mask broken is no worse for the Scorpion than anyone else having their gear broken.

Hantei is questionable, since he just kinda disappeared one day. He might have literally ascended straight up to Tengoku. The other Kami had to go through Emma-O's VIP door first.

>since he just kinda disappeared one day
He helped found to Yodotai

No, that's Akodo. Maybe.

Don't worry little scorpion, you'll serve your master whether you like it or not. I still have use for you

She does share the Fire aspect of her portfolio with Hida's other son Osano-wo, so probably.

And the Hida (and to a slightly lesser extent, the rest of the clan) have a culture of extra strong momma's boy'ing. Insulting a Hida's mother is a good way to suicide by tetsubo, and they refrain from making rude remarks about mothers. Growing up, mom is the only calm and soft person in their life, and as adults, the mother of their children is often the same.

Please tell me more.

Zanna just what are you planning? Should I be scared?

Yes

;_;

Which Zanna? Because the Zanna I know wouldn't be involved with the Scorpion.

Horiuchi Zanna, character one of the others in my group is playing. I, uh, -might- have tried to poison her in her sleep because the Yogo curse decided it was time to fuck my shit up and put me in a position to really embarrass my clan by attempting to kill an Emerald Magistrate.

What's a good Compulsion for an honorable but inexperienced Monkey clan samurai to have? One that isn't just something innocuous that will never be an actual disadvantage.

Ah. I've actually heard of Horiuchi Zanna from an older game that ended some months ago. Not the Zanna I know anyway.

Alcohol is a the classic minor but terrible addiction.

Yeah same one. He's supposed to be working for me but tried to kill me instead

Listen, it's not my fault some asshole back in the early days of the empire decided to curse my bloodline and make us go full retard once in our lives.

Not sure if this should be a compulsion or something else but "mangles names unless he's been spending a couple of days hanging around them" would be something that would come up.

Not being able get someone's name right unless you slow down and focus on putting it together and then saying each part would mean you need to work that much harder when you do want to make a good impression and be respectful.
It would force you to decide between functioning well socially and having anoigj spare awareness to actually pick up other things going on around you.

Also it would force you to find a way to better communicate in combat since.

You could of course cheat and play them as a silent type who never speaks and inexplicably clmanages to communicate even in loud or busy situations through grunts and looks, but it skulls like you are asking for a disadvantage with the intent of playing out struggling to overcome or adapt to said disadvantage so I'm guessing you wouldn't take a disadvantage related too speaking and then play "Toku Gorodonfuriman, the silent bushi of Mishima Jingu"

Given scorpion views on loyalty, do they have an issue with the socially acceptable sleeping around as long as you have a kid with the right person?

とく ごろだんふりまん

と
く

ご
ろ
だ
ん
ふ
り
ま
ん

Only once?

Yogo can lose their shit like anyone else but one of those times is going to be a guaranteed forced move by the dumbass curse.

Bayushi, you fucking idiot.

Generally speaking, nobody has an issue with socially acceptable sleeping around as long as you have a kid with the right person. For samurai, marriage is a contract that is not expected to be related to attraction or love. Even low-rankers who marry for convenience are still in it for a breeding contract. Even people who get away with marrying someone they want to marry still officially did it for contractual reasons.

Is it in the same continuity? Still run by Alph?

Well, only once for Hakuro. But I'm his player, and I always go full retard, so take that how you will :^)

Yeah. I'm still an emerald magistrate. The other pcs are samurai who have distinguished themselves in some way and were sent to work with me, possibly for their own promotion. The snake clan is getting maybe reformed, Phoenix clan champion is dead, I'm marching an army to bring down a slippery oni and there's a yogo standing over my bed with a bottle of poison and a string who is about to get roundhouse kicked by a warhorse. Same old same old. Chug or noname btw?

Chug. I don't have time for anything anymore anyway. Too much work.

Yeah we're still playing at the same time as your other game. I'll make sure to send Chiyo a letter.

Winter is the 'season of peace' while summer is the 'season of war'. Winter Court is the place to be if you want to meet your old rival in a social setting with standing orders to not break the Emperor's peace, exigent circumstances and clan political interests notwithstanding. You'll also have opportunities to meet specialists who can aid you in your endeavor to make friends with your old rival. Mind, this may mean being in debt to a Doji or a Bayushi. Or you could just invite your old rival out for tea or a night out at a geisha house, etc.

Life ended up happening, so wasn't able to post this afternoon as planned, will write a few quick posts, getting the party out of Chikushudo

Should have more time, or rather time to begin with, tomorrow instead

Winter court for me can be summed up in two words: "Torrid romance."

when a nigga gonna run some l5r like damn man I already run a game I don't have time to run two.

"Who are you?"
"We are you."
"Ah. Interesting."
"Indeed."
"And what do I want?"
"Just a bit of fun."
"Of course."
"Obviously."

It didn't take long for Kaito to notice that the tricksters wouldn't leave them alone, nor that they would be forced away from them. That, and the copies slowly started trying to seperate the group, each going in a slightly different direction. After the others had similar non-conversations with the illusions, Taichi came up with a plan. In order to make sure they wouldn't confuse one another with one of the clones, you were to grab the samurai in the middle in front of you be the shoulder and keep walking until the darkness faded away. Everybody of course followed suit, including the mimicking clones grabbing the mimicking clone in front of them.

Then the amount of illusions doubled, proceeding to "accidentally" bump into each other until each grip was undone, jostling their prey from side to side until none of the samurai could tell which was real and which a copy. The realization that the trickers managed to confuse everyone this way was easy to see on the group's faces, and a faint giggling could be heard coming from the darkness.

Taichi ordered everyone to stop. If they didn't move, they couldn't be seperated. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the copies from continuing their "accidental" bumps.

Bayushi Misaki looked more annoyed rather than anything else at this... spectacle.

>Most Rokugani records agree that Hantei reigned as Emperor until shortly after the end of the First War with the Shadowlands in 45.

>Some records indicated that he died as a result of the wounds he received during the war (and records clearly show that he was wounded in the Battle of the Four Winds in 42.
>However, the most accepted version of Hantei's passing was that after the War Against Fu Leng, he quit the mortal world and ascended back to the Celestial Heavens of Tengoku.
>Other sources told that despite the forces of the Shadowlands had been defeated, a single oni infiltrated the Imperial City, and before the demon was killed by the Imperial Guards, Hantei had been struck by a single poisoned claw which led into his death.

So there are three conflicting records of Hantei's death.

Everybody tried thinking a way out of this problem.

Well, not everyone.

Jiaying tried punching her copies, having decided that this would be the best way to train herself.

The copies mimicked her punch, each fist meeting in between the copies.

It was obviously not going to change anything.

Then she punched again.

And the giggling in the dark kept on giggling.

Kaito thought for a moment of what the illusions had said. Granted, most of it was nonsense meant to confuse, but none of it was a lie. So he turned to Misaki, the only one not to have any copies.

"Excuse me, our honorable guide Bayushi-san, but would this not be a splendid opportunity for a tea ceremony?"

Misaki looked around for a moment, then nodded her head.

"Splendid. Oh, and might I ask you, could you ensure that those of Ningen-do sit with each other, and not with those of Sakkaku?"

"That should be doable, dear monk."

Kaito did not know if a Tamamo-no-Mae would be able to distinguish the originals from the copies, but after a while she had seemingly managed to separate everyone properly and sat down to conduct the tea ceremony, everyone and their copies sitting still and silent in several circles.

Everyone, that is, except for Jiaying, who had proceeded to try and full-on spar with her copies, with roughly the same amount of success as previously.

Kaito tried calling Jiaying over: "Honorable Togashi-san, why don't you come over and enjoy some of this lovely tea? It is a gentle Scorpion blend, and masterfully prepared by our honored guide. I can assure you the taste lingers just the right amount on the tongue, and the scent is only a prelude to what awaits."

Jiaying kept on attempting to spar, her copies still mimicking her every move perfectly: "Why would I want to stop sparring against the greatest sparring partner one could have? Now I will surely be able to see where my weaknesses lie, and how to best use my strength!"

Kaito returned to the tea, enjoying the tranquility that had settled with the rest of the group.

One of the copies then stood up. "This is rather dull, to be honest. Good thing she isn't." The rest of the copies followed suit, and before the groups very eyes, their forms turned misty, shifting strangely, until they had all taken on the shape of Jiaying. They then turned towards the tattooed monk, and joined the spar, still mimicking her movements. This did not go on for long however: soon, the copies started moving more and more independantly, and before the rest had even finished their tea, the spar had devolved into a proper brawl, punches and kicks flying here and there, hitting indiscriminately each and every participant until the bruises were almost painful to look at. Eventually, Jiaying started collapsing from the exertion, and the copies once more started mimicking her.

Kaito raised his voice once more: "To be honest, that doesn't look very much like fun at all, more like work. Might it not be time you left, trickster?"

One of the copies stood up again. "You're quite right. We'll make our leave now. Have a nice day."

And as one, all of the Jiayings stood up, turned away, and as one took one step after another away from the group.

All except one, stuck in the middle of the group, unable to squeeze herself through the tight group and being carried away from the rest.

A third time, Kaito raised his voice: "Excuse me, trickster, but would you mind not leaving with one of our companions?"

The group stopped, and one of the copies moved back to the party. You could hear the real Jiaying still trying to struggle, unable to find a way to freedom.

"You asked us to leave, so we're leaving. You never specified how. Have a nice day." And with those words, the copy started moving back to its group.

It was at that moment that Kaito's eyes were drawn away from the group, to his travelling pack.

One thing that should be of note here is that during the groups travels through the jungles of the Ruined Kingdoms, Togashi Jiaying picked up a rather peculiar pet: a monkey. Jiaying had taken good care of her new pet, and tried to train it, thus rarely leaving its side. Other than when the monkey had been acquired, however, it had rarely done anything of note to the rest of the group, and even Jiaying had never noticed how Abu, as it had been named by the Ivinda merchant who sold it to her, had managed to scare off the odd trickster attempting to prank her in Ningen-do. For the most part, Abu had just been there, and rarely interacted with the others except for very minor moments of annoyance that do not deserve to be put to paper. And while the party travelled through Chikushudo, this animal stared as much in wide-eyed wonder as the samurai.

This time, however, Abu was rooting through Kaito's pack, as though looking for something. Kaito reached over, grabbing the small monkey by the neck, pulling its yelling little body out of his pack, and asked a simple question.

"How about a trade, that you might leave our companion alone?"

The copy stopped, and turned to Kaito, a smile adorning its face.

"Depends on what you have to offer."

Kaito turned to Misaki: "Would you mind holding Abu for a moment? Togashi-san seems quite attached to him, and I wouldn't want him to be hurt."

He then reached into his travelling pack, grabbing what the monkey had been searching for, opened up a small pouch that had been hidden...

And pulled out a sweet, holding it high in the air.

"I offer this, trickster. My companion for something sweet."

The copy seemed thoughtful, then approached alongside the group of copies still preventing Jiaying's escape.

"We do like something sweet. If we let your companion go, will you promise that we all will get our own sweet?"

Kaito looked back at the group of copies. It seemed to him that it was a bit larger than it had been as it was leaving.

"I promise you that all of you will get a sweet. IF you let our companion go."

The copies slowly started dispersing, letting the real Jiaying finally through to the rest of the group.

"There, we've let your companion go. Now gives us our sweets!"

The group of copies menacingly started approaching Kaito, hands outheld. Kaito looked at the nearest one, and deposited the sweet he held in the copy's hand.

"As promised, for all of you:

A
Single
Sweet."

The copy looked dumbstruck. Its gaze went down to the sweet in its hand, then back to Kaito's face. The old monk could not help but show off the pleasant smile that adorned his face. Then, the copy started laughing.

All the copies started laughing. And one by one, they disappeared into a fine mist, until only the one holding the sweet was left. As it started dissipating, it threw the sweet into the air, lifted its head, and just before the mist overtook it fully, the sweet fell into the copy's mouth, vanishing alongside it. And so, the darkness gave way to light, and the group journeyed onward.

Shortly afterwards, the group encountered a puddle on the ground, covered by an ethereal shimmer. Those peering into it saw the familiar sight of the jungle near Second City, as Misaki explained that this was the gate back to Ningen-do she was tasked to guide them to. This was also where she would leave them, and return to Scorpion lands to report the success of this expedition. The only thing that needed to be done was, one by one, the samurai had to step through the portal.

The party bowed to Bayushi Misaki and thanked her for her aid, wishing her safe travels and good fortune in her future endeavours. Then, they passed back into Ningen-do, their mission nearing completion.

Once they had collected themselves, Kahoku informed them that he had to go and speak with some of the people he knew with regards to the whereabouts of Soshi Kodanshi. In the meantime, they were to make our presence known, and our task clear to those of importance, that we may be able to work unhindered, and within 3 hours, they were to meet up outside of the gate closest to the portal, at the edge of the jungle.

Seeing as Yoshimitsu was the leader of the group, they headed straight to the Mantis embassy, hoping for a word with Yoritomo Singh. He was unfortunately not present, currently still recuperating from follow-up diplomacy after the Summer Court, at his private estate. He would be informed as soon as possible, and the Mantis embassy extended invitations to the whole group to lodge there during their stay in Second City.

Shortly before the three hours were up, they had returned to the meeting place Kahoku told them to, at the edge of the jungle near the Northern Gate, waiting for the Final Student to arrive and tell them of their next move.

Then, the shadows seemed to start moving.